


Honey

by thenakednymph



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, I'll add tags later, M/M, Protective Zuko (Avatar), honey for treating burns, my brain isn't working, sokka is brave or stupid
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-09
Updated: 2019-02-09
Packaged: 2019-10-24 20:47:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,837
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17711303
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thenakednymph/pseuds/thenakednymph
Summary: Sokka drags a small child out of burning building and Zuko helps treat the burns.





	Honey

**Author's Note:**

> I swear I'll edit this at some point.

Sokka hisses as Zuko helps him sink onto a fallen tree. His clothing is scorched in multiple places and he smells like burning hair and fabric.

“Get those off. They’re only going to make it worse.” Zuko tugs on the sleeve of Sokka’s shirt, watching with a dark scowl as Sokka begins to stiffly pull at his clothes.

“Why have we stopped?” Sokka speaks through gritted teeth, stripping out of his shirt as carefully as possible. There’s a wide burn across his shoulders, an angry red line licking up the back of his neck and head from where the fallen beam had briefly pinned him.

“What were you thinking,” Zuko demands as Sokka drops the ruined shirt, blatantly ignoring his question.

Sokka’s fingers are blistered and red and he fumbles to remove the arm wrappings he wears, blackened and burned. The strips of fabric fall away in pieces.

“I was thinking ‘there’s a kid in there’,” he grinds out, expression fierce as he looks at Zuko. “I wasn’t going to just leave him.” Sokka drops the ruined fabric in a heap at his feet.

Zuko pokes at the edge of the burn across Sokka’s back and the boy flinches away.

“Hold still.” He frowns as he examines the burn. It’s swollen and red and will only get worse without treatment. Zuko grinds his teeth.

“And we stopped because there are bees nearby,” he grumbles. “I can hear them.”

Sokka tries to twist around to see him but stops with a hiss when his back pulls painfully.

“Bees? What the hell Zuko? I don’t need bees. I need a healer.”

Zuko grinds his teeth, a muscle in his jaw flexing, and stomps through the bushes looking for what he needs.

“What do you think I’m doing?” he snaps. He digs around in the underbrush for damp, dead leaves. Something wet enough to smoke and picks up a handful of them, stuffing them into a small bag.

“Well it looks like you’re digging around in the dirt from here,” Sokka bites out, the pain making him surly.

Zuko scowls, holding a handful of the leaves in a loose fist, plucking a few green ones from a nearby bush, adding them to the pile.

“Stay there,” he orders, taking several slow deep breaths to try and calm down, centering himself. Then he begins to slowly burn the leaves cradled loosely in his fist, a thick smoke curling upwards.

He turns and walks slowly up to the gaping hollow of the dead tree nearby where he hears the buzzing.

Sokka stands as he does, watching in horror as Zuko is surrounded by bees.

“What are you doing!?”

Zuko ignores him, the smoke from the leaves lulling the bees to sleep as he reaches in and places the smoking leaves nearby, slowly lighting another handful. The buzzing softens and Zuko pulls out another bag, reaching straight into the hive and pulling out a handful of honeycomb. Honey drips from his fingers as he drops it in the bag, reaching into the hive again.

Sokka’s heart is beating out of his chest as he watches, a cloud of bees whirling around Zuko’s head but not hurting him as he pulls out a number of handfuls of honeycomb. Sokka’s been stung by bees and wasps a number of times and he is not a fan. But the leaves continue to smoke and Zuko remains unscathed.

Sokka is holding his breath as Zuko slowly backs away, honey covering his arm and sliding off his fingers. He keeps his eyes on the hive as he approaches Sokka.

“Come on, I don’t wanna be around when they wake up.” He kicks Sokka’s shirt up into his hands and they walk further into the trees for a few minutes, Sokka wincing with every step.

When Zuko decides they’re far enough away he gestures for Sokka to sit down again and he sinks into a little mound of earth.

“This is gonna hurt,” he warns before placing his hand over the burn on Sokka’s back. He’s braced for the pain but the minute Zuko's hand finds the blistered skin Sokka screams. Zuko takes another handful of honey, warming it ever so slightly in his palm to thin it before covering the burn as gently as he can, Sokka bowing forward and shuddering, teeth sinking into his lip.

“I’m sorry,” Zuko rasps, smearing honey over the burn and up into his hair. “It’ll help, I promise.”

Sokka nods jerkily, still shuddering. He’s breathing heavily by the time Zuko is done, skin slick with sweat. Zuko holds his hands away to keep from dripping everywhere and walks around to kneel on the ground next to Sokka.

“Are you hurt anywhere else other than your hands?” He can see a number or smaller red patches across Sokka’s now bare arms but wants to save them for last.

Sokka swallows thickly and nods. “Legs,” he manages and Zuko looks at his sticky hands.

“Can you get your boots off?” Sokka tries but it’s slow going, his scorched fingers fumbling. Zuko waits patiently as Sokka finally kicks off his boots, using his knife to split the material that hugs his legs, the fabric gaping open to reveal more angry skin. Zuko tries very hard not to be angry, knowing it’s only because he was worried.

These burns aren’t as bad as the one on his back and Sokka’s breath only hitches briefly as Zuko tends to him. He’s scorched all over, a patchwork of burns, and covered in ash that’s smeared with sweat. Zuko shakes his head. There’s probably not a single part of the boy that doesn’t hurt.

“I can’t believe you did that.” He examines Sokka’s legs for further damage but his leather poleyns have protected his knees from any burning though they’re now cracked and splitting, carelessly tossed aside with his boots. The worst of the burns seem to center around his ankles and calves where the material was thinner, and the lower back of his thighs. Sokka’s boots are probably as ruined as his shirt and his pants are now in tatters. He’s going to need a whole new set of clothes.

“You would have done the same,” Sokka accuses from above him but his voice is weak.

“Yes,” Zuko hisses, glaring up at him, his fingers on a red spot just behind Sokka’s knee where his boots didn’t reach. Sokka should be grateful they saved his legs from the worst of the flames.

“But I’m a firebender,” Zuko argues, narrowing his eyes. “You ran into a burning house-“ He shakes his head, biting off the angry words as his temper flares. The last thing Sokka needs is more heat.

He lets out a long breath, trying to reign in his temper. He takes one of Sokka’s hands, carefully coating his fingers and bleeding knuckles with more of the honey.

“I know benders who wouldn’t have done what you did,” he says softly.

Sokka had barely made it out alive but the boy he’d had cradled protectively in his arms was unscathed.

Zuko can’t stop thinking about the beam that had come crashing down on top of them. The boy had screamed in fear as Sokka was pinned to the floor, using his own body as a shield. It had only lasted a moment before Zuko made it to them, suffocating the flames. The two of them worked together to get Sokka out from under the beam and then they were stumbling out of the house. They’d barely had time to deposit the child safely in his parents’ arms before they were running from the fire nation soldiers.

“It was stupid,” Sokka admits, wincing as Zuko coats his hands, blood swirling with the honey. He’s not going to be much good in a fight like this.

“Yes, it was,” Zuko snaps, but his hands are gentle. He turns Sokka’s arms, looking for further damage.

“But it was also very brave,” he admits though he sounds almost grudging about it.

He pulls back to study Sokka, coating the last of the burns he finds. There are a number of blisters on his arms and a red line across Sokka’s cheek but overall he seems to have made it out relatively unscathed all things considered. Many of the burns will heal without scarring and for that Zuko is grateful.

Finally satisfied Zuko scorches the last of the honey from his hands, shaking off the remaining ash.

“Let that sit,” he instructs, rocking back on his heels. “We’ll bind them later. Doing so now will defeat the purpose of trying to pull out the heat. The honey should help keep it from getting infected.”

Sokka stares down at his hands feeling sticky and sore.

“Where did you-?” He looks at Zuko who’s tearing the cleanest bits of fabric from Sokka’s ruined shirt he can find into strips. It’s not the most sanitary thing in the world but it’ll work until they can find something better.

“Uncle taught me,” Zuko says softly. “He used to say nature had the best medicine.”

Sokka nods, smiling faintly, still staring down at his hands.

“My Gran Gran used to say the same thing.” And sometimes you didn’t have access to more modern medicine, his brain helpfully supplies as he looks around at their surroundings. Gran Gran’s advice had saved Sokka more than once on this trip as well as out on the ice. He hates to admit it but he misses her  

“She sounds like a wise woman,” Zuko says, startling him back to the present.

Sokka nods, a smile working across his face. “Yeah,” he says wryly. “Infuriating at times.” And he gives Zuko a knowing look. “But wise.”

Zuko nods. “Sounds like she’d get along with Uncle.”

He stands and, to Sokka’s surprise, ties Sokka’s hair back from where it’s slipping free of its wolf-tail, trying to keep it out of the worst of the honey.

Sokka flushes but doesn’t say anything, just lets Zuko carefully finger-comb his hair back and tie it up.

Zuko collects the mostly empty bag which is still sticky and heads back the way they’d come.

“Stay put,” he orders. “I’m going back for more so we can keep treating the burns. We should meet up with the others in one or two days and then I’m sure your sister will be able to treat you.” He looks almost guilty. “She’ll do a better job than I can.” He sounds miserable.

“Zuko.”

He stops, hand tight on the bag as he looks back at Sokka, his expression unreadable.

“Thank you.” Sokka’s gaze is weighted as they meet. He nods shallowly, trying to smile. “You’re doing fine.” Zuko’s expression pinches as Sokka lifts one of his hands. “It’s helping.”

Something in Zuko’s expression softens and he turns a little more towards Sokka, the tension in his shoulders loosening.

“Try to stay out of trouble,” he says and he sounds almost fond.

Sokka’s smile widens. “No promises.”

Zuko would expect nothing less.


End file.
